Crystals in Urine with Raw fed Male Cat

Hi, 

My cat Jax has been raw fed for quite some time now.  He has been diagnosed with crystals in his urine.  I don't understand why he has a crystal problem with a raw diet?  Is it the protein I am using?  I buy ground chicken from Hare Today w/ Wysong Call of the Wild.

Some kitties are just more prone to crystals than others, but it does seem less common among raw fed kitties.  I don't feed raw, so I'm not much help, but I know someone will come along to help you.

Thanks

I think you've just been unlucky. I don't feed very much raw (one cat won't look at it and the other will only eat freeze dried, which is very expensive and hard to get in the uk), but I've read a lot about it. The deal is this - whilst MOST cases of crystals could have been prevented with better hydration (be it from, raw food, wet food or tricks like flavoured water), that isn't true for ALL cases. Some cats are just predisposed to it, and there's nothing you could have done to change that. I'm sure it's not linked to the food - Hare Today is a very reputable supplier, and Call of the Wild is a good supplement, as far as I can see, anyway.

Don't blame yourself, and try not to get too hung up about it. Even Dr Lisa Pierson, one of the strongest voices about ANY dry food being a major issue (a view that I feel is rather extremist), says only that

If your cat is on a properly hydrated diet of 100% canned food - and no dry food - you stand a very good chance of never needing to read this webpage.

Click to expand...

From the introduction to Urinary Tract Diseases on her site.

Note the wording - even she isn't claiming that diet isn't the cause in 100% of cases. My understanding is that as far as hydration goes, wet food and raw food are about equal. Its even possible that Jax would have got crystals either sooner or worse without such a great diet... you'll just never know. You're a great mom to him, and this is not your fault.

for you and for a swift recovery for Jax.

Columbine,

Thank you so much for the kind words.  I was thinking the same thing, about in his case just being unlucky, but then again I didn't know if there was something out there I didn't know about.  I have been unlucky with him from the beginning (except for the fact that he found me!)  because he is my lung worm baby.  He was full of lung worms when I found him.  So having crystals really does not surprise me.  At first the Vet wanted to put him on a prescription dry food diet for crystals in Urine, but I reminded her that they where on raw and I  didn't want to do that.  She had just forgotten they are on raw, so she gave me Wysong Biotic Ph to mix with his food.  I am suppose to try that for 2 weeks then have him rechecked.

It sounds like your vet is really supportive of the raw feeding, which is fantastic. It also sounds as though you've caught it early, and that's great for Jax. I hope the new Wysong blend gets him well again soon

My cats bladder was so swollen from crystals in his urine too! Difference is he was on a different diet than yours, so I wouldn't put it down to diet. I don't know what they done now, but about '96 my opinions were put him down or have the tip of his penis removed, so the crystals can pass through. Bringing up two children, one in and out of hospital ( so, besides the bills I had to miss alot of work) so couldn't afford operation, but love finds a way. I made a deal with the vet to pay it off. Fortunately he loved animals more than money. It took me awhile but I paid it off and my cat lived to 18 human years! Good luck!

I feed raw. One of my boys had recurrent bladder problems for several years. He blocked once and was hospitalized.

He's fine now, knock on wood. I monitored his pH closely, and when he was having symptoms his pH could be over 8!!

And that was with feeding an acidifying diet! 

So, sometimes you just don't know...  I'm a firm believer in no dry food, and an acidifying raw diet and that probably

prevents a ton of issues. But in our case, something else must have gone on besides the food.

Please report on the result using the Wysong Biotic Ph and good luck!